Whistler Blackcomb’s energy savings lead to “green” status

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

By Mary Frances Hil

Whistler Blackcomb resort has been named one of Canada’s “greenest” employers by the editors of “Canada’s Top 100 Employers.” The award recognizes the resort’s electricity savings of 1.4 million kWh, a feat accomplished by large-scale energy conservation projects throughout the year. The resort introduced a new snowmaking monitoring program, an on-mountain restaurant retrofitting, and replacement of more than 5,000 inefficient light bulbs on both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.

Photographed by:Emmanuel Mendes Dos Santos, CoastPhoto.com

For the fifth year in a row, Whistler Blackcomb resort has been named one of Canada’s “greenest” employers by the editors of “Canada’s Top 100 Employers.”

The award recognizes the resort’s electricity savings of 1.4 million kWh, a feat accomplished by large-scale energy conservation projects throughout the year.

The resort introduced a new snowmaking monitoring program, an on-mountain restaurant retrofitting, and replacement of more than 5,000 inefficient light bulbs on both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.

The light bulb retrofit was completed in November 2012, for an estimated savings of more than 450,000 kWh, enough to run the PEAK 2 PEAK for six months.

Also, since snowmaking constitutes 30 per cent of the resort’s energy use, Whistler Blackcomb installed more electrical and water-flow meters to determine how much energy and water it takes to make snow, and to adjust their behaviours to fit conservation goals.

The resort has also vowed to minimize the environmental impact of the new lifts, which will be installed before the 2013/14 season, to reduce waste and continue to recycle more than 30 different types of products, including organic packaging and food waste. Whistler Blackcomb recycles over 30 different types of products, including organic packaging and food waste.

For more visit http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/mountain/environment/index.htm